Winding and unwinding apparatus



?atented Sept. 39, i941 WINDING AND UNWINDING APPARATUS Harold H. Klemola, North Hollywood, Calif., assignor to Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, Los Angeles (Hollywood), Cali, a corporation of Maine Application March 7', 1939, Serial No. 260,322 1 Claim. (01. 242 55) This invention relates to apparatus for winding and unwinding motion picture film and other articles of elongate and flexible nature, objects of the invention being to provide reversible mechanism which, when running in one direction, serves to wind the film or the like with uniform tension and, when operating in reverse direction, serves to retard unwinding with a uniform braking force, which requires no readjustment when the mechanism is reversed, which requires only one friction ,clutch for the aforesaid purposes, and generally to improve the art to which the invention relates.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing in which- Fig, 1 is an axial sectional view;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation on reduced scale.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises a bracket 88 for mounting the mechanism and a belt 8| for driving the mechanism, as described more fully in abandoned application Serial No. 268,326, filed on even date'herewith by Gerald F. Rackett and assigned to the same assignee as this application.

The belt 8| trains over a pulley 82 which is journaled in the bracket 88 through the medium of a hub 83, roller bearings 84 and a fixed sleeve 85. Mounted on the side of the pulley '82 are three spring-pressed pawls 88 which engage the teeth of a ratchet ring '81. The ring 81 is mounted by means of screws 88 on the outer cylindrical part 89 of a clutch assembly.

Coaxial with the pulley 82 is a film reel spindle 98 having a key 9I to prevent rotation of the reel on the spindle and having a detent 92 to hold the reel on the spindle. The spindle is journaled in ball bearings 93 and 94, bearing 93 being mounted in the stationarysleeve 85 and the bearing 94 being mounted in the pulley 82. Fast to the left-hand end of the spindle (Fig. 1) is a sleeve 95. Surrounding this sleeve and keyed .thereto with a key 96 is another sleeve 91. Surrounding the sleeve 91 are-two sets of clutch rings 98 and 99, rings 98 being keyed to the sleeve 91 by means of internal lugs projecting into the keyway I88 in the sleeve 91 and the rings 99 being keyed to the outside ring 89 by means of key I8I. Loosely mounted between the rings 98 and 99 are friction rings I82. The right-hand end of the outside ring 89 (Fig. 1) is rotatably mounted through the medium of a bushing I83 and the left-hand end of the ring gether, the right-hand end of the ring 89" counteracting the thrust of the spring I88. Thus the parts of the clutch which are keyed to the spindle. comprise 95, 96, 91 and 98 and the parts of the clutch assembly which rotate with the spindle 98 only through frictional engagement comprise 89, 99, I82 and I84. Fast to the outside of the ring 89 is a: ratchet ring I89 engageable with apawl H8 mounted on the stationary bracket I II.

The operation of the ratchet mechanism is as follows. When the reel on spindle 98 is functioning as a take-up reel the spindle 98 is driven in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2) through the medium of the belt 8|, pulley 82, pawls 88,

ratchet ring 81 and the clutch assembly, thereby tending to drive the reel at a somewhat greater rate thanthat of the film, the clutch slipping enough to maintain a constant pull on the film. During this clockwise rotation pawlII8 rides idly over the teeth of ring I89. -When the belt 8| is driven in the opposite direction, pawls 86 are inoperative, riding idly over the teeth on the ratchet ring 81. The pull on the film rotates the spindle 98 and the inner portion of the clutch assembly counterclockwise but the. outer portion of the clutch assembly is held against rotation by the pawl H8 in engagement with the teeth of ratchet ring I89, thereby serving as a brake on the film. -\Thus the friction clutch 89-9'I functions as a slipping drive: in winding around the spindle and, in unwinding, the same friction clutch serves as a brake. By virtue of the one-way clutch II8 the friction clutch 89 91' exerts braking forc'e onlyin unwinding and not in winding.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for-the .purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

Winding and unwinding apparatus compris ing a spindle having a projecting end to receive a reel detachably, a rotatable sleeve surrounding the other end of the spindle, interengaging friction rings keyed to the spindle and sleeve respectively within the sleeve, a pulley freelyrosleeve, a pawl on the arm engageable with said ratchet for preventing rotation of said sleeve in the reverse direction to afford braking action while unwinding from the reel, 9, cap threaded on the end of said sleeve,. and a compression spring interposed between said rings and cap.

HAROLD H. KLEMOLA. 

